Not a good start to the New Year – Jay, Pidley

Twenty-one of us turned up for the first Over 60s event of 2019 on Jay. I had been looking at results of matches on Jay from the previous three weeks and it seemed that the best weights were from 1 to 6, 11, 16, and the mid-to-late 30s. I drew 25, with just Jim Garratty on this length with me, two swims to my right.

Peg 25 - a light wind blew from the front right, but it was so cold.

The wind was a light North-Westerly, into us from the right, but it was bitingly cold, and Jim was suffering from the cold even before the start. I dobbed bread at 13 metres for half an hour, with no result, the looked at the bottom of the near shelf with maggot. Three small perch came immediately, then a near-3 lb carp. Foulhooked, which I landed. In the next hour a few more small perch came, plus a 2 lb carp properly hooked, and an 8 oz goldfish. Then nothing. I tried across again, then down by the platform, then back to the deep swim, where I hooked a big fish.

I lose my best fish

I played the fish for two or three minutes, and had broken back to my top three when it suddenly powered off to the corner, which was 30 yards to my left, and broke me at the hook. That made me wonder whether it was foulhooked.

I added a few more perch, and at the end tried at the bottom of the far shelf, with maggot, but never had a sniff. Meanwhile Jim, who said he was fishless after two hours, had long ago packed up. And it became really cold – I was shivering so much that on a top two in the side the float was dancing in the water as I tried to hold it on a tight line.

My fish weighed 6 lb, for last of those that weighed in, but seven didn’t. Round the corner to my left Alan Owen, who has a very good record here, won with 51 lb. He told me he put in only micros, and took his fish mainly at the bottom of the far shelf on pellet, bread and maggot. I also heard that he could see fish swimming along the far bank, while I never saw a sign of a fish all day. A case of an excellent angler on a decent swim on the day, I guess.

Winner Alan Owen, 51 lb.

The lower numbers produced three of the top four weights.

 I suspect I should have fed micros, but once the perch came in I hoped they would attract carp – as indeed they did. And I should have fished across, in the deep water, properly, feeding micros instead of maggots...though other angler caught solely on maggot. Fish are annoying creatures!

The best weights tended to come from the lower numbers again, with the 40s, facing the road, again disappointing, as they have for weeks.

Sunday see the first of the six-match Decoy Individual Winter League series. Not looking forward to it if, as forecast, another Beast From The East visits.